Music: Seth Lakeman: Touring with Plant is a game-changer

By Jay N. Miller/For The Patriot Ledger

Thursday

Feb 15, 2018 at 3:10 PM

Robert Plant's solo career has been one of constant exploration, as the former Led Zeppelin vocalist seeks out new and ever more intriguing musical styles, from all sorts of world music to his bluegrass intersection with Allison Krauss.

But Plant's latest foray might well be considered getting back to his roots. He'd become a fan of the acclaimed British folk multi-instrumentalist, Seth Lakeman, and over the past year or so Lakeman is not only opening his concerts--as he will be tonight at the Orpheum Theater in Boston--but Lakeman is also sticking around as part of Plant's backing band, the Sensational Shape Shifters.

Lakeman got his start performing with his two older brothers, Sam and Sean, and made his recording debut in 1994's "Three Piece Suite," when he was just 17. By 2002 the native of Buckland, West Devon, England was making his solo debut "The Punch Bowl," launching a career that made him one of the United Kingdom's most popular folk and folk-rock artists.

Lakeman, who usually plays fiddle and tenor guitar, is also proficient on viola and banjo, but is equally noted for his resonant baritone vocals. Touring as an opener for the folk-rock band The Levellers helped raise his profile, and his third album, "Freedom Fields" in 2006 went gold in the U.K. In the BBC-Radio 2 Folk Awards, Lakeman was voted Singer of the Year 2007, and also had "Freedom Fields" take the Best Album honor.

Lakeman both writes his own material and skillfully excavates classic old folk tunes from the past, musically updating and reinvigorating them. He tends to favor songs that tell stories, especially lyrics that depict historical events or characters. His most recent record, and eighth studio album, was 2016's "Ballads of the Broken Few."

"It was rather a call out of the blue," Lakeman laughed. "Robert Plant seemed to be a fan, and contacted me about backing him up on some songs on his last album. I went up and did that, and one thing led to another, and I ended up on the road with them. I needed about two weeks of rehearsal, where I learned a lot of their songs. baasically it was a case of me trying to learn 72 songs last summer, but it is such a privilege to be on tour with Robert."

"One of the best parts of this whole thing is that I get to open up the shows with my own music," Lakeman added. "I love playing the Robert Plant music, but my heart lies with my own music."

Since Plant's music has literally expanded to embrace sounds from all over the globe, it's a fair question to ask how Lakeman adapted his Celtic folk sound and instruments to fit into it all.

"It was a challenge," said Lakeman. "What I was doing was replacing the melodic side of some of these Eastern and African instruments with my stringed instruments. I generally play with a bow, and that could be quite a difficult adjustment, and in some cases I did have to change the way I played. Thankfully our sound has moved a bit from the East African feel he had been favoring, and blending in my Celtic folk sounds seems to work quite well."

Lakeman had toured the United States with a folk-rock band when he was 19 years old, and returned in 2007, when his travels included a stop at the South By Southwest festival, among others. But this will be his first really extended tour of the States.

"I am really excited to be on this tour, seeing the country at length like this," said Lakeman, 40. "What I do is not necessarily popular music, but more singer-songwriter, and my perspective of folk music that other artists have done through the years. My focus is very much folk music from the British Isles--that's the root of it all. But I think there's a real history there, and it is interesting to see how it all connects to these other forms of music. Many of the songs are about people, often real people, and so far that seems to resonate quite a bit with American audiences, not just the person in the song, but the experiences that can be universal."

Lakeman is also well known for recording in unusual settings, such as the recent album he recorded in a kitchen, one he recorded in a church, another in the Great hall of a Jacobean manor house, and even one in a mine.few" on the Cooking Vinyl label, where his work was enhanced by the harmonies of Wildwood Kin, a female vocal trio of two sisters and a cousin.

The Robert Plant tour just began its American winter swing this week--Boston will be the fifth date--and we caught up with Lakeman en route to a concert in Norfolk, Virginia.

"Yes, it was an amazing call out of the blue," Lakeman said, laughing, as he recalled how he became part of Plant's tour. "Robert seemed to be a fan of mine and made contact with me, and wanted me to come up and back him on some songs. I went up and did that, and one thing led to another, and the next thing I knew I ended up on the road with him. Before we did our tour of the U.K. and Australia, I had to spend two weeks in rehearsals, where I learned a lot of songs. It was basically a case of me trying to learn 72 songs over the past summ

"I've recorded in all sorts of places," Lakeman confirmed. "We even ended up in a copper mine, that's true. I like to try and give the music some kind of authentic sound, and those places lend a kind of intimacy that I hope brings the listener right into the music."

Lakeman has in fact just finished recording a new album, and looks forward to mixing it as time permits over the next few months.

"I've finished the new album, which we did in January in Dartmoor," Lakeman reported. "I'd say it is quite a but different from my previous one, more of even a prog-rock sound, very Fairport (Convention)-like sound. My last record was very subdued, even spiritual, with the three girls adding that wonderful vocal harmony. But this one is more rocking, definitely Fairport-meets-Neil Young."

We suggested that since the Americana musical movement has revived interest in all sorts of roots music, Lakeman's brand of folk should find an eager audience here, and even those Fairport Convention strands will no doubt have wide appeal.

"Oh I do think it is a good time for this kind of music, and I absolutely feel folk music has been on the upswing the past six, seven, eight years," said Lakeman. "And Fairport Convention still carries such a legacy in the U.K. We will play at least one of the new tunes on this tour, although I am quite reliant on the other three members of my band."

Lakeman's proclivity for songs that tell stories of people and events from the past could make some in the audience see him as a kind of musical historian/journalist, and he admitted that research is one of the most enjoyable parts of his work.

"My songs have covered quite a few subjects," said Lakeman. "There are also always some old folk songs, which I treated differently when I played them. I've really enjoyed discovering these old broadsheets of those older songs. But the main point is to sing about people--that's what I love. I have one new one about the first heavyweight boxer champion of Cornwall, something I found in reading through that history."

"One of my previous records, "Word of Mouth," grew out of my simply going around with a Dictaphone and recording all these wonderful old World War II vets," Lakeman continued. "Whether it was workers who'd been loading coffee on the docks in Plymouth, or those dealing with the (camouflage) fake Army before D-Day, there are so many different people and their achievements which we could portray. It turned into such a fascinating project. It's not necessarily any one style, as much as it is just trying to find the right sound for these things. The main point is to find stories people can connect with, and then present them in an effective musical format."

For such an accomplished artist in his own right, has collaborating with Plant required some adjustments, especially the part where Lakeman becomes part of the Plant band?

"It is a different vibe to be sure," Lakeman chuckled. "I'm falling back into the role of sideman. But what makes it so easy is how gracious and kind a man Robert Plant is, and also how fascinating he is. It is an absolute dream to be able to tour and perform with him and his band, and all of them are great people as well. I'm looking at this tour as a real adventure, performing all around this fantastic country, with this incredible group of musicians."